photo wings and tracking

[phoenixlpr 0]

I have a baggy jumpsuit with zipper-attachable photo wings. I have not ever used them.

Is there any safety issue around using those wings?
Can it be used for tracking?
Can it improve tracking performance?

Thanks for your ideas.

[tso-d_chris 0]

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I have a baggy jumpsuit with zipper-attachable photo wings. I have not ever used them.

Is there any safety issue around using those wings?
Can it be used for tracking?
Can it improve tracking performance?

Thanks for your ideas.

First, the camera wings I have always jumped were not zipper attached. I don't see why that would make a difference, but just in case, I want to point that out.

The camera suit had a much greater effect on my flying than the actual camera. The suit will add a significant amount of surface area where you had none before. This will definitely affect your flying. Additionally, it increases the size of your burble. It will be more important to give a good hard throw to your PC to make sure it clears the larger burble.

As far as tracking goes, this will depend on the tracking abilities of you and those you are tracking with. Ideally, in a track, you want to decrease your frontal surface area as much as possible, allowing for max forward speed. You also want to increase your lower surface area, so that your descent rate is minimized.

A camera suit does a good job with the second part, but having your arms wide is going to decrease your forward speed, which will most likely make your track a bit steeper, even if it is a bit slower.

The most efficient tracking positions I have seen (or found) have arms in relatively close to the body, and legs pretty close together. Rolling your shoulders forward and down, as well as lowering your head a bit, will cup air and flatten your track. A slight de-arch can be helpful. Also remember that you will get best results pushing down against the wind with your arms. Cupping your hands can also be helpful. If your arms aren't tired come pull time, you probably have room for improvement here. A good flat track can be physically exhausting to maintain.

Also, be aware that there are some very important considerations to be made concerning the spot on tracking jumps.

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[phoenixlpr 0]

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First, the camera wings I have always jumped were not zipper attached. I don't see why that would make a difference, but just in case, I want to point that out.

I was wondering what to do if one of the zipper accidentally opens?

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Also, be aware that there are some very important considerations to be made concerning the spot on tracking jumps.

Can you tell some?

I had a couple tracking jump from Caravan/Twin Otter from 4000m. We used a cross-wind jump-run,I was almost the last one, I started tracking 90 degrees left from the line after 10+ second I had a left 90 degrees turn back to the airport on the head-wind side. I was about the right place to deploy and I always got back to the landing area.